Skip to main content
Log in

Nephrotic syndrome

A new specific test for idiopathic membranous nephropathy

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Nephrology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Circulating anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibodies have been identified as an immunological marker of disease activity in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy. A simple assay has been developed to detect anti-PLA2R antibodies in serum. Now, we can monitor the response to drugs and adapt therapy in daily clinical practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1: Detection of circulating phospholipase A2 receptor antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence test.

References

  1. Glassock, R. J. The pathogenesis of idiopathic membranous nephropathy: a 50-year odyssey. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 56, 157–167 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Waldman, M. & Austin, H. A. 3rd . Controversies in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Nat. Rev. Nephrol. 5, 469–479 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Beck, L. H. et al. M-type phospholipase A2 receptor as target antigen in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 361, 11–21 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hoxha, E. et al. An immunofluorescence test for phospholipase-A2-receptor antibodies and its clinical usefulness in patients with membranous glomerulonephritis. Nephrol. Dial. Transplant. doi:10.1093/ndt/gfr247.

  5. Qin, W. et al. Anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody in membranous nephropathy. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 22, 1137–1143 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Knehtl, M. et al. A case of phospholipase A2 receptor-positive membranous nephropathy preceding sarcoid-associated granulomatous tubulointerstitial nephritis. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 57, 140–143 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hofstra, J. M., Beck, L. H. Jr, Beck, D. M., Wetzels, J. F. & Salant, D. J. Anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibodies correlate with clinical status in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol. 6, 1286–1291 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Debiec, H. & Ronco, P. PLA2R autoantibodies and PLA2R glomerular deposits in membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 364, 689–690 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Stanescu, H. C. et al. Risk HLA-DQA1 and PLA2R1 alleles in idiopathic membranous nephropathy. N. Engl. J. Med. 364, 616–626 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Beck, L. H. Jr & Salant, D. J. Membranous nephropathy: recent travels and new roads ahead. Kidney Int. 77, 765–770 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of grant ANR-07-Physio-016-01.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanna Debiec.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Debiec, H., Ronco, P. A new specific test for idiopathic membranous nephropathy. Nat Rev Nephrol 7, 496–498 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2011.106

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneph.2011.106

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Navigation